Gaia Year, January 11th, Lingxi City.
Several days had passed since the battle of Wenshan City. Yesterday, the Dragon Stallion Army had sent news that they had captured the entire territory of Tengyue County under the siege of three armies.
According to the battle reports from the frontlines, after the defeat of the coalition army in Wenshan City, the following siege was almost a piece of cake. Often, before the army of Shanhai City arrived, the defenders in the city would open the gates and surrender.
There was almost no fighting along the way.
This was the irresistible trend of the times. In this way, Tengyue County was spared the torment of war and could be considered to have escaped a calamity. It was a win-win situation for both Tengyue County and Shanhai City.
At the same time, the war on Yizhou Island was also nearing its end.
Overlord City had already given up when the strait of Yizhou was blockaded by the two major fleets. Even if Xiong Ba returned, he would be powerless to reverse the situation. Seeing that there were no reinforcements, the resistance of Yizhou Island naturally weakened.
With the cooperation of the Third Corps of the Brave Tiger Army, the army destroyed cities and strongholds along the way.
In this way, the war in the entire Southern Border was almost over.
The end of the month was the lunar New Year's Eve. The end of the war brought a hint of peace and auspiciousness to the Spring Festival. Moreover, the soldiers missed their loved ones during the Spring Festival, so it was not appropriate for them to continue fighting.
Not only the Southern Border, but the entire China region would gradually stop fighting to welcome the arrival of another Spring Festival.
...
On this day, Huo Qubing arrived at Lingxi City with the Imperial Guards and set up camp outside the city.
As early as two days ago, the army of Swordsman City had completely withdrawn from Dongchuan County. But before leaving, the army of Swordsman City had carried out a very disgraceful plundering operation in Dongchuan County.
The rich merchants and aristocratic families of the major cities had been robbed of a layer of oil.
After the incident, it was estimated that the army of Swordsman City had plundered at least 400,000 gold coins from Dongchuan County, which was not very rich in the first place.
Some chambers of commerce even had no liquid funds to purchase goods and were in danger of going bankrupt.
In addition, the 15,000 captives of the Imperial Guards were also brought back to Swordsman City's territory. Feng Qingyang's attitude was very clear. He did not want to confront Shanhai City head-on, nor did he have any intention of cooperating.
Feng Qingyang probably thought that Shanhai City could not do anything to him if he returned to Shu.
Ouyang Shuo could only say, "Too naive!"
On the same day, Ouyang Shuo sent a message to Feng Qingyang through the Daily Dispatch, demanding that Swordsman City return the captives of the imperial guards within a week and compensate 800,000 gold coins for the economic losses caused by the looting of Dongchuan Prefecture.
Otherwise, they could only meet on the battlefield.
Ouyang Shuo was not joking. After the imperial guards arrived at Lingxi City, Huo Qubing entered the city and had a secret conversation with Ouyang Shuo. Early the next morning, the Imperial Guards once again broke camp and marched majestically towards Dongchuan County.
Dongchuan Prefecture's Yongren City was a place of shame for the imperial guards. No one would think that Huo Qubing was leading the imperial guards to Dongchuan Prefecture for fun. Even from afar, everyone could smell the scent of vengeance.
The dark clouds of war that had just stopped seemed to be stirring up trouble again.
Shu, Swordsman City.
Unlike the other main cities, Swordsman City had a strong atmosphere of the underworld. People from the Jianghu could be seen coming and going on the streets. Hundreds of martial arts schools dotted the streets. It was a spectacular sight.
In this atmosphere, the people in the city had a strong martial spirit.
Brawls, sparring, and internal battles were happening all the time in the city. For this reason, Swordsman City imitated the Six Fan School and formed a special constable to control the people from the Jianghu.
Even the central street of the city was designed in the shape of a giant sword.
The hilt of the sword was the mayor's residence.
In the study of the mayor's residence, Feng Qingyang was furious when he saw the Daily Dispatch report. He said fiercely, "Bastard, I've never seen such an arrogant person. Let's fight then. Who's afraid of who? "
Feng Qingyue sighed in his heart when he saw his elder brother's reaction.
Feng Qingyue did not expect his elder brother to be so blinded by greed that he would send an army to rob the people for a mere 400,000 gold coins.
Swordsman City immediately became the laughingstock of the world when the news came out.
Every lord of a territory that had survived to this point knew the importance of the people's hearts. Apart from the people's hearts in the territory, the lord's reputation outside was equally important.
The reason why the allied forces were willing to surrender to Shanhai City was because of Ouyang Shuo's reputation. The Chamberlain of Dependencies even set up a department to publicize the lord's reputation.
In comparison, Feng Qingyang's actions made people feel helpless.
It was no wonder that after the news spread, some people joked that the Feng Family was a group of martial artists who were not suitable to manage a territory and that it was better for them to submit to Liu Bei.
They were filled with malice.
Ouyang Shuo's announcement through the Daily Dispatch shattered all of Feng Qingyang's fantasies. Shanhai City would never compromise. If Swordsman City did not agree to Shanhai City's conditions, war would be inevitable.
Shanhai City had just won the war in Yunnan and was terrifyingly powerful.
Even the entire Yanhuang Alliance could not do anything to Shanhai City. How could a mere Swordsman City resist the ferocious army of Shanhai City?!
Thinking about the faces of Di Chen and the others, Feng Qingyue did not think that they would start a war with Shanhai City again for Swordsman City.
The only way was to compromise.
Feng Qingyue frowned at the thought of the humiliating conditions. Swordsman City was going to humiliate themselves this time. But judging from his elder brother's expression, he was afraid that he would not compromise so easily.
A chaotic battle was unavoidable.
Feng Qingyue looked in the direction of Yongren City and his eyes flashed.
"I'm afraid that Shanhai City's demands will not be so simple!"
Lingxi City.
Because of the looting of Swordsman City, Ouyang Shuo had no choice but to start appointing and removing personnel from the newly occupied four counties before the Imperial Guards arrived at Lingxi City, so that all the county governors could set off for their posts in time.
Just yesterday, the Southern Border Protectorate announced a series of appointments and removals.
Tian Wenjing was removed from his position as the Qiongzhou Prefectural Governor and appointed as the Mengding Prefectural Governor. Hai Rui was appointed as the new Qiongzhou Prefectural Governor. These two appointments had already been decided a long time ago and there were no surprises.
The only surprise was that Mengding Prefectural Governor was more dilapidated than expected. Now, it was up to Tian Wenjing, the cold-faced Prefectural Governor, to restore the people's support and the local economy in a short period of time.
Ouyang Shuo unexpectedly had a surplus of one million gold coins from the global auction that had just ended. Ouyang Shuo did not keep a single cent of it and invested it all into the Yunnan Province.
Other than the 300,000 gold coins for the teleportation fee, the remaining 700,000 gold coins would be used to support the construction of the three counties in Yunnan.
For Mengding County alone, 300,000 gold coins were allocated as construction funds. Dongchuan County was unexpectedly looted and would also receive 200,000 gold coins as financial support.
The remaining 200,000 gold coins were naturally invested into Tengyue County.
Cao Can was removed from the position of Kunming County's Chief Administrative Officer and appointed as the Prefectural Governor of Dongchuan County.
Cao Can's appointment was recommended by the Prefectural Governor of Kunming County, Bai Hua. Ouyang Shuo had already promised Bai Hua the future Governor of Yunnan Province as one of the conditions for Shanhai City to annex Lingxi City.
As Bai Hua's most important administrative assistant, Cao Can, as the Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty, was bound to play an important role in the future Governor's Office and hold an important position.
It was precisely because of this that Bai Hua proposed to let Cao Can serve in Dongchuan County before the establishment of the Yunnan Province Governor's Office to accumulate political achievements.
Cao Can was not only capable but also familiar with the situation in Yunnan and military affairs. Since it was Bai Hua who recommended Cao Can to be the Prefectural Governor of Dongchuan County, Ouyang Shuo had no reason not to agree.
Zhou Haichen, the Prefectural Magistrate of Leizhou County, was promoted to the Prefectural Governor of Tengyue County. Yizhou Island was renamed Yizhou County and military administration was temporarily implemented. The appointment of Yizhou County's Prefectural Governor was postponed.
Originally, Ouyang Shuo was prepared to appoint Lei Fan, the magistrate of Zhili County's Duanren Prefecture, as Yizhou County's Prefectural Governor. Unexpectedly, this appointment was not approved by the Administrative Department and was put on hold for further discussion.
Ouyang Shuo's intention to promote two native magistrates to the position of Prefectural Governor was truly unexpected. There was a qualitative leap from magistrate to Prefectural Governor. It was equivalent to the leap from city to province in reality. It was like a natural moat. If they weren't in the game, such an appointment would probably be a laughing stock.
Even with Cui Shousi, a native, being promoted to Prefectural Governor, the appointment of the two people still encountered some resistance. Even if Ouyang Shuo pushed hard, the Administrative Department would still choke him.
The Chief of the Administrative Department, Xiao He, had doubts about the two new Prefectural Governors, especially about Lei Fan. Zhou Haichen was, after all, a proper Prefectural Governor from the Wilderness. He had served as the Assistant Chief of the Administrative Department, Youyi County Magistrate, and Lei Mountain Magistrate. His resume was complete and he was a meritorious elder of the territory.
But Lei Fan? Born as a mountain barbarian, he had never properly studied for more than a few days in his life. His only academic resume was two months of advanced studies at Southwest University China Hall. In the eyes of Xiao He and the others, mountain barbarians were synonymous with ignorance. It was ridiculous for them to be promoted to a high ranking official.
As such, Zhou Haichen's appointment was barely approved, but Lei Fan's appointment was stuck.
Ouyang Shuo could not ignore the opinions of Xiao He and the other officials. If he really did that, the whole system would not be able to operate effectively and it might even shake the territory's foundation.
If Ouyang Shuo forcefully ordered the Administrative Department to approve Lei Fan's appointment, Xiao He would have to resign. This was something Ouyang Shuo did not want to see.
For this reason, Ouyang Shuo had no choice but to personally send a letter to Xiao He to discuss this appointment. He suggested that the Administrative Department of Personnel send out an inspection team to conduct a political evaluation on Lei Fan.
This matter would be discussed after the evaluation results were out.
Since the lord Ouyang Shuo took the initiative to take a step back, Xiao He naturally would not be tactful and agreed to this proposal. Just the day before yesterday, the inspection team led by Zhang Tingyu had entered Duanren Mansion.
Without a doubt, this appointment would become a landmark in the history of the territory's development. The conflict and cooperation between the monarch and the prime minister would become the norm in the territory's future officialdom.
To Ouyang Shuo, the test and experience had just begun.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
